Written by Intan Paramaditha, and was originally published in Literary Hub. Mar 25, 2024
“In actively reshaping our coven, we reclaim our literary lineage and stitch a tapestry of defiant voices.”
Gloria Anzaldúa, a queer Mexican American author with indigenous heritage, tells us about why she writes: “I write to record what others erase when I speak, to rewrite the stories others have miswritten about me, about you.”
I am not writing alone. I am writing with witches—those who have gone before, those who are brewing, and those who will rise.
Anzaldúa, born in 1942 and died in 2004, is one of those witches. I carry her traces with me as one of my literary influences—or rather, literary witches, whose spells of dissent guide my pen. I summon her to contemplate the importance of rethinking, questioning, and denaturalizing literary influences as a creative practice and a political act.
This essay is based on a Master’s lecture delivered at the Conrad Award Gala, Conrad Festival, October 29, 2023.
Read the full article here.